Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Denver International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Tuesady, April 22, 2003 12:52 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to Delta Air Lines, the airplane arrived at 0951. The airplane was scheduled to depart at 1100, but was delayed due to the previous flight crews' report of a take off slat warning light indication problem. A maintenance check was completed and pushback for the next flight occurred at 1206. At 1224, while the crew was completing the pre-take off checks during the taxi, the captain reported another take off slat warning light indication problem. Maintenance requested that the captain return the airplane to the gate so a technician could reexamine the fault. At 1241, a maintenance technician assessed the problem and stated to the captain that "were gonna [sic] have to mess up with your takeoff condition here and you know after we do this, you're not supposed to move anything." The captain stated "right." The maintenance check procedures required that "either or both" engine throttles to be advanced to verify the operation of the warning horn. The operation of the system was verified and the slats were set in the takeoff configuration. During the entire maintenance check, the captain and first officer remained seated. At 1251, the first officer called for and received pushback clearance. The engines were started during pushback, and the captain stated that "prior to the engine start sequence, I did not direct re-accomplishment of the before start checklist." The captain said "the pushback and initial stages of the engine start sequence appeared normal." However, shortly after engine start and with the tug still attached, the airplane began to move forward under its own power. At that time, the captain noticed that the throttles were still advanced. The captain and first officer both reached to pull the engine throttles back to idle, but the airplane had moved forward enough to cause the tug and tow bar to jackknife to the left, striking the airplane and leaving a 4-foot long gash in the fuselage. The captain shut down the engines, secured the cockpit, and assessed the situation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the flight crew's failure to maintain aircraft control, which resulted in engine start with the throttles advanced and the subsequent impact with the tug. Contributing factors include, the flight crew's improper procedures/directives and failure to re-accomplish the before start checklist, the captain's diverted attention, the manufacturer's inadequate MEL procedures, the manufacturer's insufficiently defined conditions/steps, and the tug.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/22/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1252 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Denver |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80249 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395130N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044001W |
| Event Location Airport | Denver International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DEN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5431 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1245 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 150 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 70 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6747 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 60 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15097 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 22 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1659 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N974DL |
| NTSB Number | DEN03FA070 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | MD-88 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53242 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 149500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 149 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 18 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 33331.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wilmington Trust Co. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Rodney Square North |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | 026A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DEN |
| Departure City | Denver |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LUK |
| Destination City | Cincinnati |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - pushback/tow |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 13 2004 12:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |